McCain's "Keating 5" Scandal Involvement To Be Highlighted By Obama Campaign

Update 12:30pm Monday, October 6:
The Obama campaign has released the full video of "Keating Economics: John McCain and The Making of a Financial Crisis." Watch it below:

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The Obama campaign, in an effort to combat increasingly negative attacks by the McCain camp, is launching an aggressive, multi-pronged effort to highlight McCain's involvement in the "Keating 5" savings-and-loan scandal:

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Monday will launch a multimedia campaign to draw attention to the involvement of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the "Keating Five" savings-and-loan scandal of 1989-91, which blemished McCain's public image and set him on his course as a self-styled reformer.

Pushing back against what it calls McCain's "guilt-by-association" tactics, the Obama campaign is e-mailing millions of supporters a link to a website, KeatingEconomics.com, which will have a 13-minute documentary on the scandal beginning at noon Eastern time on Monday. The overnight e-mails urge recipients to pass the link on to friends.

The Obama campaign, including its surrogates appearing on radio and television, will argue that the deregulatory fervor that caused massive, cascading savings-and-loan collapses in the late '80s was pursued by McCain throughout his career, and helped cause the current credit crisis.

The Obama camp released this 30-second trailer for a 13-minute video highlighting McCain's connection to the scandal that will be released in full tomorrow at 12pm EST on the website keatingeconomics.com.

A former federal regulator with intimate knowledge of the savings-and-loan scandal recently told HuffPost's Seth Colter Walls that McCain is repeating mistakes from the Keating era:

William Black -- a deputy director of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation during the "Keating Five" scandal that nearly ended McCain's political career -- says the Arizona Republican's chief errors at the time were underestimating the importance of regulation and relying too heavily on slanted advice from captains of industry.

"In the S&L crisis, he took his advice from the worst [kind of] criminal. Charles Keating is the person he went to for his policy advice," Black said. "Now, he certainly is getting advice from Phil Gramm, Carly Fiorina, Rick Davis -- the whole group of economic and top political advisers are lobbyist types. He just doesn't seem to get it, ever, that the advice is going to favor their clients. Even if they just stop being lobbyists, you can't just turn that off instantly. It's their mind state that develops. ... The biggest lesson is that, when you deregulate and de-supervise, you create an environment where control fraud emerges. You hyper-inflate bubbles; you get criminalization."

Click here for more information about the "Keating 5."

Comments

[lmob]

02:38 AM on 10/13/2008

It's VERY important to get a balanced view...the Obama crew has to dig up an 18yr old scandal in which McCain was cleared. Tis video was all about Keaton. The ties to McCain are weak at best- that he was a campaign contributor. Unfortunately, we don't have to dig that far to find Obama's contributors...he is one of the top recepients of contributions from those in the Fannie Mae fraud.

Former chairman of Fanny Mae one of Obama's 3 advisers http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/12/nation/na-johnson12\

Johnson also got special loans- this from Obama who denounces special interest groups http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB121321030258665089.html

Obama one of the TOP recipients of Fannie Mai and Freddie Mac campaign contributions http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2077889/posts

McCain called for more regulations after a report commissioned ...McCain then cosponsors the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=109-s20060525-16

McCain asks for a bipartisan independent commission to look investigate. Obama says we don't need it and says that just means "that's Washington's speak for, well get back to you later". He doesn't want his backers investigated!!!!

WallStreet Journal article on the various factors that caused the crises. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122204078161261183.html

...note the GOVERNMENT CREATED Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Government NEVER shrinks and they never clean house (fire or layoff like private companies).

[chillingaz]

04:59 PM on 10/07/2008

Make sure you read this article about what Deconcini said today about McCain. It will explain why McCain didn't get in more trouble than he did. I didn't know this before until today.

"To DeConcini, McCain was let off the hook too easily, due to the fact that McCain was a member of the U.S. House at the time of the meetings and the Senate concluded it didn't have jurisdiction to look into his unreported trips with Keating.

"That to me is the real issue," DeConcini said. "I don't know if the Obama campaign is going to raise that or not. If they called me to ask my advice, I'd tell them they should."

http://www.politicker.com/deconcini-says-keating-five-fair-game

[runequester]

10:12 AM on 10/07/2008

The only problem I see with bringing the Keating 5 scandal to light is that the other four participants were Democrats. However, since the Republicans want to play "Lets Bring Up The Past", then the Obama camp MIGHT have to do it, too.

[Zingaro Zorro]

10:56 PM on 10/12/2008

Since the entire RNC in Minneapolis was about McCain-Palin's hope to deregulate the financial markets, and since the worst crisis of financial markets on Wall St. caused the largest bailout by American taxpayers since Keating Five, I think the issue of McCain's past has no adverse repercussions for his political opponent.

[chili1]

08:36 PM on 10/06/2008

I wish they had released this Keating 5 earlier. I am very happy to see it as I am very familiar with this subject. My parents lost $4,000 of their savings along with a lot of retirees as a result of Lincoln Savings going belly-up. McCain was good friends with Charles Keating and should have been sent to prison with Keating. He went on trips to the Bahamas and Cindy had money in a Keating shopping center. All McCain got was a slap on the hands for his involvement in the fiasco. And McCain has the nerve to call Obama a liar. McCain is the real liar.

[sharonrj50]

10:04 PM on 10/06/2008

McCain was cleared and not even broke ethics laws look it up do not listen to these idiots that call themselves media be independent and find out the truth.

WHILE YOU ARE LOOKING AT THE KEATING 5 ALSO LOOK UP

GLOBAL POVERTY ACT
THIS HAS ALREADY BEEN BROUGHT TO THE FLOOR AND JOE BIDEN IS PUSHING IT. IT IS A BILL THAT OBAMA IS TRYING TO GET PASSED. CHECK IT OUT AND SEE WHAT IT CONTAINS. AMERICANS WILL NOT LIKE THIS IF THEY SEE IT.
FREEDOM OF CHOICE ACT
THIS IS WHAT OBAMA SAID WOULD BE THE FIRST THING HE WOULD SIGN INTO LAW IF ELECTED. SEE WHAT THAT IS ALSO. YOU MAY BE SURPRISED.

SO EDUCATED YOURSELF AND FIND OUT LIKE THIS REGISTERED DEMOCRAT DID. FIND OUT THE TRUTH

[BillyT]

10:35 PM on 10/06/2008

Did you know there are CAPS and lower cases?

And McCain was NOT CLEARED.

He was publicly censured for exercising poor judgment and he himself admitted he made a terrible mistake for many years....then today after he was attacked suddenly said "Keating 5 was a set up?" Oh NOW he tells us it was a setup?? So convenient??

[zombiejesus]

03:16 PM on 10/19/2008

You are not a registered democrat. Just tell the truth and maybe people would have a little more respect for you.

[bygollymissmolly]

08:16 PM on 10/06/2008

That is a devastating clip and should be required viewing for anyone who is sitting on the fence in this election.

[Intelligentia]

08:03 PM on 10/06/2008

That's why it alwys aggravated me whenever they called McCain an honorable man. I wondered, was this the same man I saw during the S & L loan scandal? The scandal removed one of the Bush brothers ( I believe his name is Neal) from the public domain while his brother Jeb and George made it to politically. McCain should be an ex-convict for his actions as the main player in the Keaton 5 scandal; however, he is running for President today and people, including Senator Obama, have the audacity to McCain an "honorable man". Yeah, right!

[svccgal]

07:04 PM on 10/06/2008

I think this is excellent and McCain only has Palin to thank as Obama said we are not going to be swiftboated, I think this documentary is even better than a 30 second spot because it goes into a lot of detail and 13 minutes is NOT that long. One of the posters said that look what not fighting back got John Kerry he is still in the senate

[Ohioan4truth]

06:45 PM on 10/06/2008

History is being rewritten by John McCain.........we should refer the the savings and loan debaucle as the KEATING FOUR.............................since McCain doesn't want us to count to five..or rather he expects us to not be able to.

[Casbah]

06:28 PM on 10/06/2008

I had forgotten about how deep McCain's involvement was in the S&L scandal. I did remember him being tagged as part of the Keating Five, of course. The 13-minute film does need to be shrunk down into a 60-second spot, highlighting how McCain was on the wrong side of deregulating S&Ls, and his more recent crusade for deregulation. Both times, it resulted in two massive taxpayer-financed bailouts of corporate scoundrels. More of the same if McCain is elected! Go Obama!

[KGinSanFrancisco]

06:28 PM on 10/06/2008

i've heard on MSNBC that Keith O. will have a special comment today about sarah Palin and her Ayers attacks. Can't wait!

[JeffDV50]

05:53 PM on 10/06/2008

I hope they're cutting a stronger sequel to this to run ASAP... Obama's team couldn't have put this together - it's not up to their quality.

[bygollymissmolly]

08:17 PM on 10/06/2008

What is wrong with it. I found it mesmerizing and very powerful.

[westreal]

05:49 PM on 10/06/2008

I would consider this hitting "above" the belt. Squarely, in the jaw!

[wallygator]

05:37 PM on 10/06/2008

Let the games begin! Not a bad short version,might be better as a 2 hour in depth report on CNN
The beatings will now commence.

[DMcD]

05:49 PM on 10/06/2008

Agreed; lets get it "all" out there --- for more of McCain's "nasty secrets" see: www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com
A very good resource.

[DMcD]

05:57 PM on 10/06/2008

... and more: www.cain2008.org and www.therealmccain.com and www.truthout.org/article/mccain-absent-debate-over-uranium-mining
Google if links don't go thru -- E addresses are valid.

[WarriorLemming]

05:28 PM on 10/06/2008

I was wondering when, "Keating 5" would be mentioned during this election season thankfully in time for those too young to know or those who have forgotten so that they fully understand our economic situation now and how John McCain is culpable.

[gopSTEALSyourTAXmoney]

06:13 PM on 10/06/2008

and...of course-----------some us us old enough to REMEMBER----AND HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN!

[Graywolf48]

05:21 PM on 10/06/2008

I am to the point where I just don't want McCain defeated in November, I want him crushed. I want him handed a defeat as big and as embarrassing as that handed the man whose Senate seat he now holds, Barry Goldwater. And the irony is, Goldwater was an honest and honorable man, everything that McCain is not.